Contemplation

"The purpose of contemplation is true."
Aristotle (Metaphysica II, 1:993B20)

"You know the truth, and the truth liberates you."
Jesus (Gospel According to Saint John 8.32)

Contemplation is a kind of meditation so unique that it often separates it clearly from meditation and emphasizes it as something separate. In such a case, it is usually said of concentration, meditation and contemplation as separate acts (for example, Richard from St. Joseph). Viktor is distinguished by contemplation (Contemplatio), Thinking (Meditatio) and figuring out (cogitatio). A. 3, p. 1. He says this: "Contemplation is the insightful and free eyes of the spirit in cognized things; Thinking is the eyes of the spirit that deals with the search for truth; Figuring out this is a search for truth without coming to anything. " A. 3, P. 12.)).

However, it is impossible to hide that both concentration and contemplation are two different types of meditation. Concentration is a synthetic meditation, and contemplation-analytical meditation. Contemplation means watching, looking, waking up. This word comes from the Latin contemplatio. The Latin term was originally for watching the Flight of birds to read from them the course of their destiny (cf. Andrzej Bańkowski, Etymological Dictionary of Polish language: A-K, PWN, Warszawa 2000, p. 786)). It is possible that later also concerned the viewing of any signs or trailers to find an explanation in various events of life 1)some people compare the Latin word contemplatio with the Greek theoria that originally meant in Pythagoras ' writings. (see carefully).) In the writings of Cicero (106-43 R. Prz. N. Chr.) The word contemplatio already has the meaning of looks, looking, viewing, research. In the later Latin writers (II-VI W. After N. Chr.) It also means consideration, attention, consideration 2)cf. Harpers ' Latin Dictionary, New York 1879, S. 445.

The significance of contemplation has been more enlarged with the Christian state of Christianity. It began to signify the pinnacle of spiritual life – a prayer in which the soul directly connects with God – a kind of special communion.

Contemplation can be in many ways

It is worth discussing the two meaning of contemplation ahead. The first is vigilance, and the other one is watching or seeing (including thinking, image). Vigilance has already been discussed in a separate work, called Vipassana: Buddhist vigilance. In this sense of contemplation means attention, presence, being cautious and sensitive to what is happening. While looking at, we could divide it into deliberate (strenuous) and Supernatural (NIEUSILNE). Deliberately, in turn, could be divided into the world and the sky. and supernatural to look at the images and for nothing. (These terms are derived from the author's current work. They are intended to serve as summaries and descriptions of the relevant Buddhist actions.

Deliberately looking at the world is even thinking about death, the decomposition of the body, the fragility of the world, and the values of human life, the beauty, the richness of virtues. These different thinking leads, posiłkując imagination. The aim here is to move the student's heart and steer it on the right track. It is the development of imagination in truth – convincing about the nature of reality in order to later seek salvation. The faithful himself develops various ideas here to gain understanding. Deliberately looking at the sky is imagining the various forms of saints, Gods, Goddessess, 6)Understand: Angels, anielic. Palaces, Paradise Gardens, distribution and reception of lights, rays, rains, życiodajnych juices, etc. These thoughts tend to be called raptures or ecstasy ( Ting Nge 'dzin, Skt. Samādhi). Among them are also ways of work, in which the perceptions take a more elaborate form-enormous in their scope and at the same time detailed. This kind of complex, elaborate thinking is one of the degrees of education (formation/development; Bskyed rim, Skt. Utpattikrama). It is a higher type of contemplation, where not only is God watching, but it is seen as God. However, also and here develops the look based on their own abilities, by the power of imagination, though not without the help of grace. It also happens that the imaginations are created only at the beginning mentally or sensually, and later they take on a supernatural form and appear on a spiritual way, effortlessly and without the participation of their own imagination or sensuality.

This is where the supernatural looks, which actually is already looking or contemplating in the pure sense of the word. It's looking supernatural can be directed at images either for nothing. In both cases, it is meaningful to feel the divine presence. When looking at images, this feeling is accompanied by a variety of views. However, they are spontaneous, appearing in a supernatural way, not from the will of the believer or through his effort, but as a grace from the high. Looking at nothing is no vision, but also here comes the feeling of divine presence through the extraordinary luminous cognition. At this point brightened is thought. There are no images, colors, or something special, but the looking looks not looking, the seer sees not seeing. The senses are dazzled by light with a high and pure personal contacts of spirit. Despite the lack of images, the spirit is imagined by the strength and light of cognition.

"At one moment I think of myself as a spiritual herald of the Law of life with one face and two hands, a light-white appearance similar to eight year old young, holding A and a cross to honor the signs; Odziewającym a coat of zszytym with the king of birds, resting with the right foot rozpostartą and left bent. Then I think of one white and my breasts. I send rays from a and remove the darkness of souls. Returning, they melt into the light in the enchantment and transform property of the time in the House of the skies. I meditate in his interior king of a healthy life with a, one face and two hands, with a bright-white appearance, in a tiger skirt, rests balanced on the seat with rotating crosses. I meditate on one circle of the moon in the breast that shaped on the front. I think on it, around one white and rotates to the right heart of a healthy life. I think how to send rays from it, inviting reasonable wybawców from the space, penetrating in me and shaped. I think I'm sending them and concentrating the brilliance of All Souls ' lives. Returning, they develop my life, merit and efficiency. Then I think dissolving in the light together with the circle of the moon disappear in the interior of the time of life. "

We further present the statements of various representatives of Christian and Buddhist thought.

Contemplation in Christian thought

"Blessed are the pure heart, for they shall see God."

Jesus (Gospel According to Saint Matthew 5.8)

"The body lamp is your eye. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be illuminated. But if it is sick, your body will be in darkness too "

Jesus (Gospel According to Saint Luke 11.34)

"I could say that the saint is the one whose love and desires are opposed to looking at anything that is not God. Not being diffused by the low images, the holy has the eyes focused on the most Holy splendour, which is God. In him he sees – for everything is in God – also brothers, rough, stretching błagalnie hands. Without the eye tearing away from God, the Holy Spirit bends over the Błagającymi brothers. Against the body, against the riches, contrary to the comfort of the adventure rises his ideal: to serve. Holy – Poor? Limited? Not. He came to possess true wisdom and true wealth. So he has everything. does not feel tired. If it is true that it does not cease to create, it is also true that it does not cease to feed. If it is true that it understands the sorrow of the world, it is also true that it nourishes the joy of heaven. God is satiated, in God he has his joy. It's a creature that pojęło the meaning of life. "

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, contemplation is a concentration of the heart, subjecting all its own being to the tchnieniu of the Holy Spirit; Dwelling in the Lord's house, which we are ourselves; Stimulating faith to enter into the presence of the one who awaits us; Dump all the masks and return the heart to the loving Lord, to give him a gift which will be purified and transformed (2711). In this catechism we also find such expressions of contemplation as the vision of Uszczęśliwiająca (1028), the friendship relationship, the search for Love (2709), the meeting (2710), the Prayer (2712), the simplest way to express the mystery of prayer, the gift, the grace, the relationship Covenant 8)Tukdam established by God in the depths of our being, Communion (2713), the most intense time of prayer (2714), the gaze of the faith fixed in Jesus Christ, the attention paid to him, the directing of sight on the mysteries of the Life of Christ (2715), Listening to the Word of God, obedience of faith, unconditional acceptance of the Word of God by a servant, loving the adherence of the Child (2716), silence, the symbol of the world which is coming, Silent Love (2717), union with the Prayer of Jesus (2718), the communion of Love Life for many (2719). Contemplation in the Christian sense is the receiving of light from God, which is often accompanied by gifts of signs such as revelations, visions, ecstasy, extraordinary bodily phenomena, stigmata, etc. (A handy encyklpedya of the church. M.-N. Tom XXVII-XXVIII, Warszawa 1912, p.88.)) Saint. Thomas of Aquinas, speaking of her as an act of intellect, speaks of her as being "a simple sense of truth" (Simplex intuitio veritatis). (Sum of Theological II, II, Q. 180, A. 3.))

"Even though I saw God face to face, however, ocaliłem me life."

Jacob (Genesis 32.31)

"Now we see as if in mirror, vaguely; Then [ujrzymy]face to face. Now I get to know in part, and then I will poznawał as I was known. "

Saint. Paul (First Epistle to the Corinthians 13.12)

"You see Trinity, if you see love."

Saint. Augustine (De trinitate VIII, 8, 12)

"The Contemplation of God is promised to us as an end and crowning of all our actions and as an everlasting fulfillment of happiness."

Saint. Augustine (De trinitate I, 8: PL 42, 831. Stokowska, p. 96)

"Whoever leads the life of a mere mortal and uses the senses of the body cannot see God. Then it can only be raised to that vision when it somehow dies for the present life: either completely leaving the body, or suspending the action of bodily senses. "

. Saint. Augustine (De Genesi ad Litteram XII, 27: PL 34, 477)

"Whoever saw God knew what he had seen did not see God, but something to him."

"Practice constantly in mystical contemplation, reject the sensations of senses and intellectual energies, the whole thing and perceived, and understood, and all niebyty, and all the entitiess, so ażebyś in this total ignorance has been exalted, to the extent It is possible to have unity with what is above each substance and beyond any knowledge. "

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (Divine Darkness)

"So the hierarchy is assimilation to God and unite with him – as far as possible – because God Himself guides us in all the sacred cognition and in every nabożnym action. Staring himself in his divine beauty and identifying himself with her, the hierarchy receives, according to her capacity, the stigma of his divinity and makes her own members the images of God and the mirrors perfectly transparent and flawless, ready for To accept the splendour of the Pierworodnej light and of the rays of the divine principalities and, finally, the świątobliwie-filled brightness of God. "

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (about the celestial hierarchy)

"We use the most obscure images to rise to the cause of everything and to watch the ponadświatowymed eye and the whole, and the opposite one to the other, indivisible and equal in the cause of everything."

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (divine names)

"Recalling the witness of Jesus – the light of the father:" The true light of the enlightening of every man coming into the world "(Jn 1.9). Through which we have received access to the Father 9)1 Tm 2.5; and ROM 5.2; Ef 2.18; 3.12) – The principles of all light – we raise our eyes, as far as possible, towards the given tradition of the fathers of light, flowing from the holiest of the Scriptures and – to the extent of our forces – wejrzyjmy in the hierarchies of Heavenly intellects, revealed to us here on a way Symbolic and Anagogiczny. (The term "anagoge" means rising upwards toward contemplation. And once we have assumed the intangible and untouched eyes of our intellect, derived from the Boskowładnego father, the gift of firstborn and more than the original light – through which we manifest ourselves, in symbolic forms, the happiest The hierarchies of Angels – let to levitate from him even higher, to the simple ray of light itself. "

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, about the celestial hierarchy, gearbox. Own from English)

"Attention is the beginning of contemplation, or rather its basis. It is through her that God, wejrzawszy upon us, reveals himself to the mind. "

Nikephoros (in Filokalia)

"Do you see that Anthony, through heart vigilance, was able to watch God and become predictive? In fact, the creator reveals himself to the mind in the heart, first, as John Klimak says, a kind of fire purifying the one who loves, then the kind of light that enlightens the mind and makes to God. "

The life of our Father, St. Anthony (in Filokalia)

"The Kontemplatywne life consists in lovinging the whole heart of God and neighbour and on nutrition in himself a yearning for the creator."

"The Life of Kontemplatywne begins here to come to perfection in the heavenly Homeland: for the Fire of Love, which begins to burn here, to the sight of who he loves, Buchnie the greater love toward him."

"Let no authority onieśmiela you nor does it not lead you from what allows you to comprehend the persuasion achieved by correct contemplation of reason. Indeed, the authority does not oppose the right reason, nor can it ever contradict the true authority. One and the other come undoubtedly from the same source, which is the wisdom of God. "

"The real and Supreme Being is the intellect uszczegółowiony the contemplation of the truth."

Jan Scotsman Eriugena (Periphyseon IV, 780 C, S. 177)

"The first and greatest contemplation is the admiration of majesty."

Saint. Bernard (De Consideratione V, 14: PL 182, 806)

"The first contemplation consists in admiring the majesty; The other is the object of the judgment of God; A third of his favors; Fourth of his promises. "

Saint. Bernard (De Consideratione V, 14: PL 182, 806)

"The Soul imbued withing faith with the great anticipation expects the presence of God, relishesing the thoughts of heaven, and until the grace of" look face to face "has been made, prides itself in the humiliation of the cross."

"See the Earth to know yourself! She will tell you who you are — you are dust and dust rotate (cf. Gen 3, 19) ".

Saint. Bernard of Clairvaux (about twelve degrees of Pride 28)

"The two walls are in the monastery: Active and contemplative, Mary and Martha, inner and outer."

Saint. Bernard of Clairvaux (operative series first 18)

According to Richard of St. Victor Contemplation is "a deep and pure gaze of the soul into the miracles of wisdom, combined with blissful amazement and admiration." Benjamin Maior (1, 4: PL 196, 67, translated from the audience of Pope Benedict XVI, November 25, 2009). Victor distinguishes six species of contemplation (De Gratia Contemplationis I, 6: PL 196, 70):

In the mere imagination (consisting of the careful observance of bodily things)

In the imagination with the involvement of reason (which consists in considering the order and equipment of things postrzegalnych)

He understands in the complicity of the imagination (when, from observing the visible things, we are up to the invisible World)

In the same only understands and in a purely disagreement (when the spirit deals with invisible things that are out of reach of the imagination)

Concerning what is above reason (when, thanks to God's revelation, we know what human reason we cannot comprehend)

Concerning what is above and beyond reason (with God's enlightenment we know what seems to be contrary to human reason, eg. What is said about the mystery of the Trinity) 10)St. Thomas of Aquinas notes that only the last species seems to concern God's truth. And so contemplation, according to him, relates not only to God's truth, but also to that which is in creatures. Cf. Various ways of developing vigilance mentioned by Buddha, given in my work Vipassana: Buddhist vigilance. At the end, the last object of attention given by the Buddha is the four Sublime truths.)

"Seek reading and you will find musing; Knock praying, and will be opened to you through contemplation. "

Guigo Kartuzy (Scala claustralium; PL 184, 476 C)

"The life of the Kontemplatywne ends in the joys of the will, and this delight leads to the greater intensity of love."

Saint. Tomasz of Aquinas (Summa Theological II, II, Q. 180, A. 1

"Where" the spirit of the spiritual man is ponadzmysłowemu in this way. The power of a wondrous deity soars at Infinite Heights, it floats again over the bottomless depth. Nevertheless, in this rozkoszowaniu of the equally eternal and powerful, which are in themselves and also in the outgoing, the spirit retains its nature and is liberated from all obscurationss and actions derived from the inferior things, contemplates strange things God. Because what can be a miracle greater than a simple unity, which is immersed in its simplicity by the trinity of persons, and all the multiplicity ceases to be a multiplicity? "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (Life, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1990)

"Build constantly his heart to the hidden divine contemplation, having me constantly before my eyes, and never turn my gaze from me. This contemplation should also be the target of other exercises, like poverty, post, wakefulness and all other mortification. Practice them only as far as they help you in your quest for it. In this way, you get to the highest perfection, which does not reach even one in a thousand, and this is because, by seeing in these other exercises the same goal, they wander for many years. "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (The Book of the Eternal Wisdom, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1983)

"Servant: Lord, who can endure constantly in contemplation of your divine presence? Eternal Wisdom: None of the living in time. You have been told just to know where you are going, what the purpose of your wandering should be, so that your heart and mind should be guided. And when you are deprived of this contemplation, you should feel as if your eternal happiness was taken away, and you have to come back to it as soon as possible to get it back and then you must diligently watch over yourself. When you do not have it, you are like a boatman, who among the rozszalałych of Snowmen fell out of the hands of a paddle and did not know where to refer. And if you cannot continue to be in contemplation yet, frequent relapses towards yourself and the patient's remission, lead you to such a constancy as is possible. "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (The Book of the Eternal Wisdom, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1983)

"Look, I'm so delightfully przystrojona[Mądrość Przedwieczna] in radiant garment, I'm so thankfully surrounded by fresh flowers full of tysiącznych hues, purple roses, pearl lilies, beautiful violets and all other types of flowers that Najcudniejsze flowers May, a herb of all the light-flooded membranes and delicate flowers najbujniejszych LANs, compared to my charm are like common thistle. "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (The Book of the Eternal Wisdom, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1983)

"Watching the mysteries of God, spoke whispers of thought, full of mystery and deep content."

Raymond of Capua, Life of St. Catherine of Siena 16, 184, by the way, Poznan 2010

"Beware of certain that my soul watching God's essence, and that is the reason why it is hard for me to stay in this prison of flesh."

Raymond of Capua, Life of St. Catherine of Siena 16, 215, by the way, Poznan 2010

"Contemplation of thought is not, in my opinion, like a profound relationship of friendship, in which we speak alone with God, convinced that he loves us."

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Libro de la vida, 8)

"I am sure that those who do not stop in the way will never be deprived of a living water of contemplation."

"Nawykajcie for looking at Christ. Nawyknijcie for this! He who will be working on it, acquires himself the best master. I do not ask you to be great about him meditations or expiratory work of reason, nor to gain a beautiful thought and feeling – I only ask you to watch him. "

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Diary of the Soul)

"You can stand the view of the nasty things, not miałybyście to look at the most beautiful thing our mind presents? Zważcie that he does not demand anything more than us, and at any moment, if you want, you will find him. And so he wants us to be looked at, that he does not abandon any effort. "

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Diary of the Soul)

"More is to look at his presence than pronounce a word. If you pray with your lips, I know and feel that I am talking to God, and the greater the divine presence of his attached attention than to the words which I pronounce, then I join the inner prayer with the oral. "

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Diary of the Soul)

"Contemplation is a skill of love, that is, a pouring love of God's knowledge."

Saint. John of the Cross

"These considerations, forms and ways of thinking are necessary… To multiply in love and to strengthen the soul through the senses. We must pass all the degrees of consideration, forms and concepts, to come to union, rest and supreme good. "

Saint. John of the Cross (the way to Mount Carmel II, 12, 5)

"You should learn to abide by God's love mind, with total peace of mind, even though you seemed to be doing nothing. Then it is in a short time penetrates your divine soul rest together with a wondrous and lofty cognition of God. "

Saint. John of the Cross (the way to Mount Carmel II, 15, 5)

The purification of the senses is only the gateway and the beginning of contemplation for the spirit.

Saint. John of the Cross (Dark Night II, 2, 1)

"The Divine light of contemplation, since it penetrates into the soul, which is not yet sufficiently enlightened, makes it a spiritual darkness. Not only does it exceed the measure of its capacity, but also obscures and deprives it of the use of natural intelligence. For these reasons, St. Dionysius (Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: De mystica Theologia, C. L, § l; Migne PG 3, 999) and other mystical theologians call the contemplation of the Rays of darkness. It refers to the soul not purified yet, and not finally enlightened, in which its excessive supernatural light conquers and destroys its natural forces of reasoning. "

Saint. John of the Cross (Dark Night II, 5, 3)

"In the prayer of contemplation the soul continues in the presence of God. He accepts what God wants to give her. He does nothing, does not make any effort. Inspiration allows her to discover everything she seeks, and even much more. "

Wincenty a Paulo (SVP IX, 385)

"Contemplative pouring is a simple and loving sight for God, the eyes in which the soul, through admiration and love delighted, meets God in experimentation, and in deep peace enjoys the beginning of eternal happiness."

A. Rene de Maumigny SJ

"Stare in him, and he staring in me."

Villager of Ars (to John Maria Vianney; Catechism of the Catholic Church 2715)

Contemplation in Buddhist thought

"Contemplation or presence in a natural state is a fundamental practice of dzokczen."

Jongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (the teachings of Dzogchen Bonpo)

"The better we know about contemplation, the stronger the power is. We will become calmer and the emergence of fewer obstacles. The presence of natural state limits the power of passion, and we manifestujemy positive properties. We come to understand that external phenomena are not real and that they do not possess any inherent nature. If we understand this, we will be less attached to the objects and it will be easier for us to control the passions. "

Jongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (the teachings of Dzogchen Bonpo. Part and practical)

"But when we are in contemplation, in a natural state, we do not do any research or testing, because it is the action of the mind. Each of us needs to have his own personal experience. Look in our minds and we look at the thought, which then dissolves. Did it occur or not? Do we find this gap between thoughts? If we are to realize a natural condition for a while, then no specific description of the state of calm or movement of thought is necessary. There is only this presence, regardless of whether there is peace or movement. This is irrelevant. "

Jongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (the teachings of Dzogchen Bonpo. Part and practical)

"In Dzogchen, it is said that when we are in contemplation, we must liberate all the thoughts that arise, because otherwise they will disturb the natural state."

"How do we stay in contemplation? We just stay in this state as if we were a child who is playing happily. If your child is playing in his own way, we let him do what he wants. Do not play in accordance with the developed plan; Everything that he does is automatic and spontaneous. (…) If we recognize the natural state once, we just remain in this state, without changing or grabbing anything. We just leave it as it is. "

"The practice of concentration is not yet contemplative, but through the development of concentration we can learn the natural state of mind and achieve the ability to rest in a state of consciousness, which is an introduction to the practice of contemplation."

"In the practice of concentration, we still have to deal with duality between the subject that is focused (focused on the subject) and the object of concentration (where the entity is focused), and there is still a duality between the internals (awareness Inside the mind-body of the meditator) and what is external (the object of meditation). Contemplation no longer has a subject or object, it is said that it resembles "pouring water into water".

"Our relationship to emerging thoughts is a key aspect of contemplation. By observing the formation, rest and dissolution of thoughts in voidness, we see the true, empty nature of thought: thoughts constitute the movement of the mind and have the same nature as the natural mind, just as the waves have the same nature of water as the sea. When thoughts emerge in a state of contemplation we are aware that they arise from voidness and that their essence is the nature of voidness. We are not distracted by them, but we let them go, resting in a calm contemplation. "

"The contemplation of Dzogchen is consciousness, in a state beyond thought, because a conceptual, presenting mind that is accustomed to maintaining the attention of the mind through continuous production of thought, is at rest. Conceptually, the thought mind pushes a practitioner from a relaxed state of contemplation into tension, and as a result it is difficult for him to remain relaxed in a state of contemplation. "

"Thoughts are the movement of the mind and are of the same nature as the natural mind, just as the waves are the same watery nature as the sea. When thoughts arise during the state of contemplation, we are aware that they arise from voidness and that their essence is the nature of voidness. We are not distracted by them, but we let them remain in a balance of contemplation. "

"Contemplation is the main practice of Dzogczien, in w[praktykujący]hich it constantly remains in the state of self. In this state is beyond all the concepts of a mere tier of mind, and yet it is fully aware of the intellect and rational mind. Contemplation is not engag[w nic]ing, seeks to find experience of calmness or transparency, nor tries to avoid distraction. When there is a thought in contemplation, it does not suppress it or follow it; It is spontaneously liberated and dissolved. This practice of liberating everything that emerges is introduced by the master Dzogczien when communicating explanations about the nature of the mind. "

The "Path of Atijogi (Dzogchen) is the path of Rigpa, not the mind. Therefore, from the outset we must be in a state of contemplation. Even if one learns thousands of different methods, they are all secondary, only to understand and develop wisdom. You shouldn't be based on words, but on the real meaning. At the Dzogchen level you have to know the true meaning. When you discover that in different types of experience and manifestation there is a unique and only state of presence, then you will eventually discover the niedualistyczną nature of reality. Dzogchen is a famous state of contemplation. When someone understands what is contemplation, he also knows what is relaxation. This is not some sort of intent or commitment, such as "I want to relax." This rule is that any type of voltage is exceeded. This allows you to relax everything. This is a total relaxation. However, it does not mean that practitioners must relax, but that the nature of contemplation is loosening. Therefore, Dzogchen is said to be effortless, or without any oblige to do anything. "

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, contemplation

"Dzogchen principle consists in" not correcting anything, not stay conditioned "and on being in" what is ". But many people mistakenly interpret it. Instead of being relaxed in the present state, they indulge in laziness. It seems to them that, since they practice dzogchen, it is not permissible for them to do anything. "

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, integration

"Although contemplative thought may arise and actually arise, it is not conditioned by them. They are liberating by themselves when they leave them as they are. In contemplation the mind does not engage in any effort; There is nothing you need to do or not do. What is, simply, is what is, in itself, perfect. "

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, Crystal and path of light

At the end of the word of the ancient Tibetan clergy,
Trenpy Namki (Dran pa Nam mkha ')), of the Seven mirrors (( Me Long Bdun PA)-based on the issue from the monastery of Triten Norbutse in Nepal. Translation of the Tibetan language.:

"If you're looking, you've found nothing to look at, let go and leave a looking consciousness in your place. (…) If you are looking, you have not found anything that you would meditate on, let go and leave now this rozmyślającego in place. (…) If you are looking, you have not found anything for what to act, leave this acting in place now. "

some people compare the Latin word contemplatio with the Greek theoria that originally meant in Pythagoras ' writings. (see carefully).) In the writings of Cicero (106-43 R. Prz. N. Chr.) The word contemplatio already has the meaning of looks, looking, viewing, research. In the later Latin writers (II-VI W. After N. Chr.) It also means consideration, attention, consideration ((cf. Harpers ' Latin Dictionary, New York 1879, S. 445

2.

↑

cf. Harpers ' Latin Dictionary, New York 1879, S. 445.

The significance of contemplation has been more enlarged with the Christian state of Christianity. It began to signify the pinnacle of spiritual life – a prayer in which the soul directly connects with God – a kind of special communion.

In the Buddhist thought, the expression of contemplation Contemplation) is used in different meanings. ((the multiple uses of the word appeared gradually, with the time of Buddhism reaching the West.

3.

↑

the multiple uses of the word appeared gradually, with the time of Buddhism reaching the West. He became very common in colloquial speech and replaced many specific words, such as thinking (Tib. Sgom PA, Skt. bhāvanā),having second thoughts ( bSAM Gtan, Skt. Dhyāna), Delight (the Ting Nge 'dzin, Skt. Samādhi), ((the word also translated as absorbed. Can be understood as a focus, a think.

4.

↑

the word also translated as absorbed. Can be understood as a focus, a think. Thinking (Tib. bSAM PA, Skt. Cintā), image (Tib. Dmigs PA, ((also focus.

Contemplation can be in many ways

It is worth discussing the two meaning of contemplation ahead. The first is vigilance, and the other one is watching or seeing (including thinking, image). Vigilance has already been discussed in a separate work, called Vipassana: Buddhist vigilance. In this sense of contemplation means attention, presence, being cautious and sensitive to what is happening. While looking at, we could divide it into deliberate (strenuous) and Supernatural (NIEUSILNE). Deliberately, in turn, could be divided into the world and the sky. and supernatural to look at the images and for nothing. (These terms are derived from the author's current work. They are intended to serve as summaries and descriptions of the relevant Buddhist actions.

1 Tm 2.5; and ROM 5.2; Ef 2.18; 3.12) – The principles of all light – we raise our eyes, as far as possible, towards the given tradition of the fathers of light, flowing from the holiest of the Scriptures and – to the extent of our forces – wejrzyjmy in the hierarchies of Heavenly intellects, revealed to us here on a way Symbolic and Anagogiczny. (The term "anagoge" means rising upwards toward contemplation.

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St. Thomas of Aquinas notes that only the last species seems to concern God's truth. And so contemplation, according to him, relates not only to God's truth, but also to that which is in creatures. Cf. Various ways of developing vigilance mentioned by Buddha, given in my work Vipassana: Buddhist vigilance. At the end, the last object of attention given by the Buddha is the four Sublime truths.)

"Seek reading and you will find musing; Knock praying, and will be opened to you through contemplation. "

Guigo Kartuzy (Scala claustralium; PL 184, 476 C)

"The life of the Kontemplatywne ends in the joys of the will, and this delight leads to the greater intensity of love."

Saint. Tomasz of Aquinas (Summa Theological II, II, Q. 180, A. 1

"Where" the spirit of the spiritual man is ponadzmysłowemu in this way. The power of a wondrous deity soars at Infinite Heights, it floats again over the bottomless depth. Nevertheless, in this rozkoszowaniu of the equally eternal and powerful, which are in themselves and also in the outgoing, the spirit retains its nature and is liberated from all obscurationss and actions derived from the inferior things, contemplates strange things God. Because what can be a miracle greater than a simple unity, which is immersed in its simplicity by the trinity of persons, and all the multiplicity ceases to be a multiplicity? "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (Life, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1990)

"Build constantly his heart to the hidden divine contemplation, having me constantly before my eyes, and never turn my gaze from me. This contemplation should also be the target of other exercises, like poverty, post, wakefulness and all other mortification. Practice them only as far as they help you in your quest for it. In this way, you get to the highest perfection, which does not reach even one in a thousand, and this is because, by seeing in these other exercises the same goal, they wander for many years. "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (The Book of the Eternal Wisdom, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1983)

"Servant: Lord, who can endure constantly in contemplation of your divine presence? Eternal Wisdom: None of the living in time. You have been told just to know where you are going, what the purpose of your wandering should be, so that your heart and mind should be guided. And when you are deprived of this contemplation, you should feel as if your eternal happiness was taken away, and you have to come back to it as soon as possible to get it back and then you must diligently watch over yourself. When you do not have it, you are like a boatman, who among the rozszalałych of Snowmen fell out of the hands of a paddle and did not know where to refer. And if you cannot continue to be in contemplation yet, frequent relapses towards yourself and the patient's remission, lead you to such a constancy as is possible. "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (The Book of the Eternal Wisdom, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1983)

"Look, I'm so delightfully przystrojona[Mądrość Przedwieczna] in radiant garment, I'm so thankfully surrounded by fresh flowers full of tysiącznych hues, purple roses, pearl lilies, beautiful violets and all other types of flowers that Najcudniejsze flowers May, a herb of all the light-flooded membranes and delicate flowers najbujniejszych LANs, compared to my charm are like common thistle. "

Blessed. Henryk Suzo (The Book of the Eternal Wisdom, the crowd. W. Simon OP, Poznan 1983)

"Watching the mysteries of God, spoke whispers of thought, full of mystery and deep content."

Raymond of Capua, Life of St. Catherine of Siena 16, 184, by the way, Poznan 2010

"Beware of certain that my soul watching God's essence, and that is the reason why it is hard for me to stay in this prison of flesh."

Raymond of Capua, Life of St. Catherine of Siena 16, 215, by the way, Poznan 2010

"Contemplation of thought is not, in my opinion, like a profound relationship of friendship, in which we speak alone with God, convinced that he loves us."

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Libro de la vida, 8)

"I am sure that those who do not stop in the way will never be deprived of a living water of contemplation."

"Nawykajcie for looking at Christ. Nawyknijcie for this! He who will be working on it, acquires himself the best master. I do not ask you to be great about him meditations or expiratory work of reason, nor to gain a beautiful thought and feeling – I only ask you to watch him. "

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Diary of the Soul)

"You can stand the view of the nasty things, not miałybyście to look at the most beautiful thing our mind presents? Zważcie that he does not demand anything more than us, and at any moment, if you want, you will find him. And so he wants us to be looked at, that he does not abandon any effort. "

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Diary of the Soul)

"More is to look at his presence than pronounce a word. If you pray with your lips, I know and feel that I am talking to God, and the greater the divine presence of his attached attention than to the words which I pronounce, then I join the inner prayer with the oral. "

Saint. Teresa of Jesus (Diary of the Soul)

"Contemplation is a skill of love, that is, a pouring love of God's knowledge."

Saint. John of the Cross

"These considerations, forms and ways of thinking are necessary… To multiply in love and to strengthen the soul through the senses. We must pass all the degrees of consideration, forms and concepts, to come to union, rest and supreme good. "

Saint. John of the Cross (the way to Mount Carmel II, 12, 5)

"You should learn to abide by God's love mind, with total peace of mind, even though you seemed to be doing nothing. Then it is in a short time penetrates your divine soul rest together with a wondrous and lofty cognition of God. "

Saint. John of the Cross (the way to Mount Carmel II, 15, 5)

The purification of the senses is only the gateway and the beginning of contemplation for the spirit.

Saint. John of the Cross (Dark Night II, 2, 1)

"The Divine light of contemplation, since it penetrates into the soul, which is not yet sufficiently enlightened, makes it a spiritual darkness. Not only does it exceed the measure of its capacity, but also obscures and deprives it of the use of natural intelligence. For these reasons, St. Dionysius (Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: De mystica Theologia, C. L, § l; Migne PG 3, 999) and other mystical theologians call the contemplation of the Rays of darkness. It refers to the soul not purified yet, and not finally enlightened, in which its excessive supernatural light conquers and destroys its natural forces of reasoning. "

Saint. John of the Cross (Dark Night II, 5, 3)

"In the prayer of contemplation the soul continues in the presence of God. He accepts what God wants to give her. He does nothing, does not make any effort. Inspiration allows her to discover everything she seeks, and even much more. "

Wincenty a Paulo (SVP IX, 385)

"Contemplative pouring is a simple and loving sight for God, the eyes in which the soul, through admiration and love delighted, meets God in experimentation, and in deep peace enjoys the beginning of eternal happiness."

A. Rene de Maumigny SJ

"Stare in him, and he staring in me."

Villager of Ars (to John Maria Vianney; Catechism of the Catholic Church 2715)

Contemplation in Buddhist thought

"Contemplation or presence in a natural state is a fundamental practice of dzokczen."

Jongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (the teachings of Dzogchen Bonpo)

"The better we know about contemplation, the stronger the power is. We will become calmer and the emergence of fewer obstacles. The presence of natural state limits the power of passion, and we manifestujemy positive properties. We come to understand that external phenomena are not real and that they do not possess any inherent nature. If we understand this, we will be less attached to the objects and it will be easier for us to control the passions. "

Jongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (the teachings of Dzogchen Bonpo. Part and practical)

"But when we are in contemplation, in a natural state, we do not do any research or testing, because it is the action of the mind. Each of us needs to have his own personal experience. Look in our minds and we look at the thought, which then dissolves. Did it occur or not? Do we find this gap between thoughts? If we are to realize a natural condition for a while, then no specific description of the state of calm or movement of thought is necessary. There is only this presence, regardless of whether there is peace or movement. This is irrelevant. "

Jongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (the teachings of Dzogchen Bonpo. Part and practical)

"In Dzogchen, it is said that when we are in contemplation, we must liberate all the thoughts that arise, because otherwise they will disturb the natural state."

"How do we stay in contemplation? We just stay in this state as if we were a child who is playing happily. If your child is playing in his own way, we let him do what he wants. Do not play in accordance with the developed plan; Everything that he does is automatic and spontaneous. (…) If we recognize the natural state once, we just remain in this state, without changing or grabbing anything. We just leave it as it is. "

"The practice of concentration is not yet contemplative, but through the development of concentration we can learn the natural state of mind and achieve the ability to rest in a state of consciousness, which is an introduction to the practice of contemplation."

"In the practice of concentration, we still have to deal with duality between the subject that is focused (focused on the subject) and the object of concentration (where the entity is focused), and there is still a duality between the internals (awareness Inside the mind-body of the meditator) and what is external (the object of meditation). Contemplation no longer has a subject or object, it is said that it resembles "pouring water into water".

"Our relationship to emerging thoughts is a key aspect of contemplation. By observing the formation, rest and dissolution of thoughts in voidness, we see the true, empty nature of thought: thoughts constitute the movement of the mind and have the same nature as the natural mind, just as the waves have the same nature of water as the sea. When thoughts emerge in a state of contemplation we are aware that they arise from voidness and that their essence is the nature of voidness. We are not distracted by them, but we let them go, resting in a calm contemplation. "

"The contemplation of Dzogchen is consciousness, in a state beyond thought, because a conceptual, presenting mind that is accustomed to maintaining the attention of the mind through continuous production of thought, is at rest. Conceptually, the thought mind pushes a practitioner from a relaxed state of contemplation into tension, and as a result it is difficult for him to remain relaxed in a state of contemplation. "

"Thoughts are the movement of the mind and are of the same nature as the natural mind, just as the waves are the same watery nature as the sea. When thoughts arise during the state of contemplation, we are aware that they arise from voidness and that their essence is the nature of voidness. We are not distracted by them, but we let them remain in a balance of contemplation. "

"Contemplation is the main practice of Dzogczien, in w[praktykujący]hich it constantly remains in the state of self. In this state is beyond all the concepts of a mere tier of mind, and yet it is fully aware of the intellect and rational mind. Contemplation is not engag[w nic]ing, seeks to find experience of calmness or transparency, nor tries to avoid distraction. When there is a thought in contemplation, it does not suppress it or follow it; It is spontaneously liberated and dissolved. This practice of liberating everything that emerges is introduced by the master Dzogczien when communicating explanations about the nature of the mind. "

The "Path of Atijogi (Dzogchen) is the path of Rigpa, not the mind. Therefore, from the outset we must be in a state of contemplation. Even if one learns thousands of different methods, they are all secondary, only to understand and develop wisdom. You shouldn't be based on words, but on the real meaning. At the Dzogchen level you have to know the true meaning. When you discover that in different types of experience and manifestation there is a unique and only state of presence, then you will eventually discover the niedualistyczną nature of reality. Dzogchen is a famous state of contemplation. When someone understands what is contemplation, he also knows what is relaxation. This is not some sort of intent or commitment, such as "I want to relax." This rule is that any type of voltage is exceeded. This allows you to relax everything. This is a total relaxation. However, it does not mean that practitioners must relax, but that the nature of contemplation is loosening. Therefore, Dzogchen is said to be effortless, or without any oblige to do anything. "

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, contemplation

"Dzogchen principle consists in" not correcting anything, not stay conditioned "and on being in" what is ". But many people mistakenly interpret it. Instead of being relaxed in the present state, they indulge in laziness. It seems to them that, since they practice dzogchen, it is not permissible for them to do anything. "

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, integration

"Although contemplative thought may arise and actually arise, it is not conditioned by them. They are liberating by themselves when they leave them as they are. In contemplation the mind does not engage in any effort; There is nothing you need to do or not do. What is, simply, is what is, in itself, perfect. "

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, Crystal and path of light

At the end of the word of the ancient Tibetan clergy,
Trenpy Namki (Dran pa Nam mkha ')), of the Seven mirrors (( Me Long Bdun PA)-based on the issue from the monastery of Triten Norbutse in Nepal. Translation of the Tibetan language.